Ives slams safe spaces, crying sessions for college students after election

Iowa State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton) has proposed a “Suck it up, Buttercup” bill that seeks to place a scrutinizing eye on safe spaces and cry rooms for college students who cannot cope with reality.

The bill is in
response to alleged incidents at public universities in which
classes were canceled to hold crying sessions for students who could not deal with the Nov. 8
presidential election results.

Much like Kaufman, Illinois state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton),
doesn’t believe universities are preparing students
for real life -- their main job. While she hasn’t fully reviewed the proposal, she doesn’t agree
with safe spaces.

“Money is fungible, and any tax dollars that are actually
promoting kids not attending because of trigger warnings or are not pushing
kids to do final exams because they are afraid of the election results…that is
just utter nonsense,” Ives said.

Ives, a West Point graduate who served in the U.S. Army, said she cannot wrap her head around safe zones and how a university can
allow such expenses. She said there should be repercussions for
wasteful spending.

“I went to West Point, and this stuff is laughable,” she
said. “This stuff is beyond anybody’s comprehension that this is allowed to happen,
especially at a taxpayer-funded university. Considering that money is fungible,
I think the professors who do this type of thing should be docked pay. Great,
you’re giving kids time off to get their emotions in check, and you’re not
teaching? Well then guess what? You’re losing a day of pay. You’re not
teaching.”

Kaufmann has said the bill’s purpose is not only to
prepare students for the inevitable lemons life will hand them, but also to reduce
wasteful spending. Ives concurs with that sentiment, especially in light of
Illinois’ budgetary concerns over education funding.

“I think taxpayer money is at a premium, and we should
be focusing on making sure that every dollar is used to promote student growth and
achievements in real subjects where they can actually have a job afterward,”
she said.

Ives said parents who disagree with safe spaces
and trigger warnings should voice their concerns and act on them.

“People who send their kids to these institutions should
start to rebel,” Ives said. “They should withhold any donations if they are big
donors. They should hold back and do anything possible. This should be
repudiated all around. (We have hard workers) who worked hard every day -- day
in and day out – to try and eke out a living in the state of Illinois, and then
to have these taxpayer-funded universities come up with safe spaces for
kids and basically not teach them about the real world is just unbelievable.”

Much like Kaufmann, Ives has no problem with already
established consoling services or therapy sessions. It is the extra unnecessary
spending that she is targeting.

“We already have psychological services for students,” Ives said.
“I don’t know why you would create an extra thing just based off of the
election results when you already have health services that have always been
available to students. If they need consoling, they can go into consoling
instead of an extraordinary system that we can’t afford and can’t fund. It is
just ridiculous. I don’t want to pay for anything more.”